One of my favourite internet memes is the one featuring a dog looking at a computer screen, saying “What a lovely day on the inter-“, with a second picture of the aforementioned dog looking away from the screen towards the reader exclaiming “Good Lord!”. That was me last Friday: just minutes after the news broke that the US Supreme Court had ruled President Trump’s tariffs had overstepped the mark and were essentially illegal, celebrations were cut short when I found myself reading a Breaking News story announcing a brand new 10% global import tariff, which would be applied unilaterally to every country sending product to the US. A day later, that figure was increased to 15%, the maximum allowable under the obscure ‘never-before-enacted’ law which was being used to introduce the new measure. It was almost as if it was all pre-planned and not just a petulant response to being defeated in court…
So, basically, here we go again. All credit to Learning Resources’ Rick Woldenberg for his bravery in fighting the tariff policy through the courts – it takes considerable courage to put your head above the parapet like that, especially when you are going up against someone known for his vindictiveness. I just hope his actions will not have been in vain. There was even a (very) brief discussion about the tariff money being refunded to companies, although that now looks a little optimistic to say the least (and it certainly won’t come without a protracted fight).
On which note, I am sure it is completely coincidental that one of the chief government architects of the tariff strategy – Howard ‘Nutlick’ – recently handed his company Cantor Fitzgerald over to his sons… a company which takes a healthy commission for helping clients to *checks notes* claw back tariff refunds. What are the chances…? It certainly brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ‘State of the nation’…
One thing is clear: President Trump is not going to let go of tariffs without one heck of a fight. The Supreme Court found he had over-reached with the way that tariffs were imposed, but he had anticipated that outcome and identified a way to get round the problem, at least in the short term. Ultimately, whatever we may think of his decisions, he is the democratically elected President of the US: therefore, the mid-term elections will surely be the best way to send him a powerful message. A recent ABC/Washington Post/Ipsos poll showed 64% of those surveyed disapprove of tariffs as an economic strategy. Wouldn’t it be nice if every Democrat and Republican who disapproves of the policy takes the opportunity to register their displeasure by voting Democrat on this occasion – if they could find it in their hearts to do that, it might just hit home. We can but hope…
Read the rest here.
